Ijournal entry 103017 #43. October, Month of The Holy Rosary. The Rule of St. Benedict. Quotes Quotes by Servants of God, Fr. Walter Ciszek, S.J., Fr. Patrick Peyton, and St. Alphonsus Liguori. "The first step to holiness? To want it!, by Fr. Rolly Arjonillo. "Which Kind of Soul Am I?" – Part II, by Saint Anthony Mary Claret. Audio presentation: "Refurbishing the Soul", Episode 11, by Babsie Bleasdell.
Info from the Archdiocese of Denver Office of Evangelism and Family Life Ministries: http://archden.org/wp-content/uploads/2015/03/ArchdenFamilyRosary.pdf
The Rule of St. Benedict
We believe that God is present everywhere and that the eyes of the Lord in every place behold the good and the evil; but let us especially believe this without any doubt when we are assisting at the Divine Office. Therefore let us ever remember the words of the prophet: Serve ye the Lord in fear; and again, Sing ye wisely; and, I will sing to thee in the sight of the angels. Let us then consider how we ought to behave ourselves in the presence of God and his angels, and so sing the psalms that mind and voice may be in harmony.
My Comments - How often it seems the mind, the voice, and the heart are estranged. Time for slowing down the pace, romancing the words, and taking them to heart as we service the Lord God in prayer and song.
We believe that God is present everywhere and that the eyes of the Lord in every place behold the good and the evil; but let us especially believe this without any doubt when we are assisting at the Divine Office. Therefore let us ever remember the words of the prophet: Serve ye the Lord in fear; and again, Sing ye wisely; and, I will sing to thee in the sight of the angels. Let us then consider how we ought to behave ourselves in the presence of God and his angels, and so sing the psalms that mind and voice may be in harmony.
My Comments - How often it seems the mind, the voice, and the heart are estranged. Time for slowing down the pace, romancing the words, and taking them to heart as we service the Lord God in prayer and song.
🌕God has a special purpose, a special love, a special providence for all those he has created. God cares for each of us individually, watches over us, provides for us. The circumstances of each day of our lives, of every moment of every day, are provided for us by him. [This] means that every moment of our life has a purpose, that every action of ours, no matter how dull or routine or trivial it may seem in itself, has a dignity and worth beyond human understanding. No man’s life is insignificant in God’s sight. – Fr. Walter Ciszek, S.J.
🌎 Suffering did not come upon Christ unawares. In a very real sense, it had been on God's Mind from all eternity. The Virgin Mary had conceived a Victim. John hailed Him as the meek Lamb of God, destined for slaughter. Jesus Himself spoke often of His death; invited others to do what He was about to do - "take up the Cross"; then deliberately went up to Jerusalem to His earthly doom. But when that long awaited suffering was only a sunrise away , Jesus Christ fell upon His face and bled at the thought of pain, and asked that, if it were possible, the chalice be withheld. To tremble at pain is Christlike. Suffering is not a good thing that merely appears evil. It is an evil, which human nature shrinks from - and grace can sanctify. Our Lord suffered in the Garden of Gethsemani on account of our sins. Each one of our offenses personally, and every single sin. It caused him an excruciating agony. Consider this as you call to mind your sins in a daily examination of conscience and when preparing to receive the sacrament of Penance". By Servant of God, Fr. Patrick Peyton (Peyton's Rosary Prayer Book)
🎾“The practice of recommending to God the souls in Purgatory, that He may mitigate the great pains which they suffer, and that He may soon bring them to His glory, is most pleasing to the Lord and most profitable to us. For these blessed souls are His eternal spouses, and most grateful are they to those who obtain their deliverance from prison, or even a mitigation of their torments. When, therefore, they arrive in Heaven, they will be sure to remember all who have prayed for them". By St. Alphonsus Liguori
🌎 Suffering did not come upon Christ unawares. In a very real sense, it had been on God's Mind from all eternity. The Virgin Mary had conceived a Victim. John hailed Him as the meek Lamb of God, destined for slaughter. Jesus Himself spoke often of His death; invited others to do what He was about to do - "take up the Cross"; then deliberately went up to Jerusalem to His earthly doom. But when that long awaited suffering was only a sunrise away , Jesus Christ fell upon His face and bled at the thought of pain, and asked that, if it were possible, the chalice be withheld. To tremble at pain is Christlike. Suffering is not a good thing that merely appears evil. It is an evil, which human nature shrinks from - and grace can sanctify. Our Lord suffered in the Garden of Gethsemani on account of our sins. Each one of our offenses personally, and every single sin. It caused him an excruciating agony. Consider this as you call to mind your sins in a daily examination of conscience and when preparing to receive the sacrament of Penance". By Servant of God, Fr. Patrick Peyton (Peyton's Rosary Prayer Book)
🎾“The practice of recommending to God the souls in Purgatory, that He may mitigate the great pains which they suffer, and that He may soon bring them to His glory, is most pleasing to the Lord and most profitable to us. For these blessed souls are His eternal spouses, and most grateful are they to those who obtain their deliverance from prison, or even a mitigation of their torments. When, therefore, they arrive in Heaven, they will be sure to remember all who have prayed for them". By St. Alphonsus Liguori
Poem (It all started with a text mess from Louis)
~Living in Reality~ Effectively when it's all about God and Not Me, Me, Me
~Living in Reality~ Effectively when it's all about God and Not Me, Me, Me
👍Darkness serves us on a silver platter, a well dressed delusion
👍 Let's be vigilant and with the wisdom of the Holy Spirit not buy into the illusion
👍It is easy 2 run here & run there
👍While shrugging off the crosses we wish not to bear
👍Joining this & joining that
👍Thinking that a card carry membership indicates having the formula down pat
👍Stepping up and taking part
👍Being involved in activities, busyness of every sort
👍🏼Looking around, always on the search
👍🏼Hopping from service to service in church after church
👍🏼Folded hands, praying out loud on the knees
👍🏼Whooping and hollering Amens, Calling on the name, oh please!
👍To grab the bull by the horns & change from the inside out
👍Now that is what it's really all about
👍To become in every form and fashion faithful & true
👍🏼That is what we need to be striving hard to do
👍Obedient to the precepts of God & His great commands
👍🏼That should be seen as the highest priority that life demands
👍Carrying crosses, acquiescing, & accepting God's will
👍A goal held wholeheartedly, not just when we are feeling it, but for ever until
👍Spiritually drinking milk & eating cookies
👍Shouldn't we want to move beyond being perpetual rookies?
👍Walking the narrow straight
👍Filled with determination & love, not pessimism, pettiness or hate
👍Of course, not all the time we may be steady on our feet
👍But every single try wins over a failure, it can't be beat
👍For success, on God's Grace that is on what it's most assuredly based
👍A great blessing only the goodness of the Lord allows us to savor & taste
👍In his great mercy, constantly extended ever towards us
👍Those with open hearts, receptive to truth make great strives when filled with filial trust
👍So Let us keep moving and desiring to be the best that we can be
👍This will happen when we really realize the bottom line is Him, & not me, me, me
👍Our life is not our own, we've been bought by so high a price
👍The Lord's Passion was for us the winning role of the dice
👍Time for us all to acknowledge the need to expand our spiritual minds, for they are indeed so, so hallow
👍Jesus is the answer for he or she that exemplifies the spiritual shallow
👍Then no longer looking like a monk but actually living like one
👍His help will have helped us achieve phase one of our spiritual transformation, a deal that is now considered done
tmm/Tru GIG
™
👍 Let's be vigilant and with the wisdom of the Holy Spirit not buy into the illusion
👍It is easy 2 run here & run there
👍While shrugging off the crosses we wish not to bear
👍Joining this & joining that
👍Thinking that a card carry membership indicates having the formula down pat
👍Stepping up and taking part
👍Being involved in activities, busyness of every sort
👍🏼Looking around, always on the search
👍🏼Hopping from service to service in church after church
👍🏼Folded hands, praying out loud on the knees
👍🏼Whooping and hollering Amens, Calling on the name, oh please!
👍To grab the bull by the horns & change from the inside out
👍Now that is what it's really all about
👍To become in every form and fashion faithful & true
👍🏼That is what we need to be striving hard to do
👍Obedient to the precepts of God & His great commands
👍🏼That should be seen as the highest priority that life demands
👍Carrying crosses, acquiescing, & accepting God's will
👍A goal held wholeheartedly, not just when we are feeling it, but for ever until
👍Spiritually drinking milk & eating cookies
👍Shouldn't we want to move beyond being perpetual rookies?
👍Walking the narrow straight
👍Filled with determination & love, not pessimism, pettiness or hate
👍Of course, not all the time we may be steady on our feet
👍But every single try wins over a failure, it can't be beat
👍For success, on God's Grace that is on what it's most assuredly based
👍A great blessing only the goodness of the Lord allows us to savor & taste
👍In his great mercy, constantly extended ever towards us
👍Those with open hearts, receptive to truth make great strives when filled with filial trust
👍So Let us keep moving and desiring to be the best that we can be
👍This will happen when we really realize the bottom line is Him, & not me, me, me
👍Our life is not our own, we've been bought by so high a price
👍The Lord's Passion was for us the winning role of the dice
👍Time for us all to acknowledge the need to expand our spiritual minds, for they are indeed so, so hallow
👍Jesus is the answer for he or she that exemplifies the spiritual shallow
👍Then no longer looking like a monk but actually living like one
👍His help will have helped us achieve phase one of our spiritual transformation, a deal that is now considered done
tmm/Tru GIG
™
"THE FIRST STEP TO HOLINESS? TO WANT IT!", by Fr. Rolly Arjonillo
Info from this site: https://catholicsstrivingforholiness.com/2017/10/20/the-first-step-to-holiness-to-want-it/
Info from this site: https://catholicsstrivingforholiness.com/2017/10/20/the-first-step-to-holiness-to-want-it/
Ephesians 1:3-6”“Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who has blessed us in Christ with every spiritual blessing in the heavenly places, just as he chose us in Christ before the foundation of the world to be holy and blameless before him in love. He destined us for adoption as his children through Jesus Christ, according to the good pleasure of his will, to the praise of his glorious grace that he freely bestowed on us in the Beloved. |
- "St Paul reveals God’s great love in his redemptive plan: He “blessed and chose us in Christ before the foundation of the world to be holy and blameless before him in love” and destined us to be His children through Our Lord Jesus Christ.
- These words reveal the Christian vocation to holiness, to sanctity. God wants us all to be holy through the loving imitation of Our Lord Jesus Christ.
- This is what God wants from us. But do we want it?
To want to be holy, to want to be a saint, is utterly important, for it is the first step to holiness.
- As we desire to obtain something (the end) is the first step in every human action, and this desire is converted in searching for the means to obtain what is desired and putting it into practice, so goes the same with regard to holiness.
- With God’s grace, we must first want to be holy so as to put into effect the means which God has disposed to reach holiness: prayer, sacraments and interior struggle to live the virtues practiced and taught by Christ during His life. If one does not desire to be holy, neither shall he want or exert the effort to employ the means….
St. Josemaria teaches:
“My children, we who are children of God…should have just one exclusive concern, which is this: to become saints.
Allow your soul to be consumed by desires – desires for loving, for forgetting yourself, for sanctity, for heaven… Make them more fervent every day, for the Holy Spirit says that he is pleased with men of desires. Let your desires be operative and put them into practice in your daily tasks. St. Josemaria.”
Desiring and striving for holiness despite our weaknesses and defects is what God wants from each one of us. But, as St. Augustine teaches, God, who created us, cannot save us without our personal correspondence. Hence, “it seems an excellent idea to me that you should tell the Lord often about your great and ardent desire to be a saint, even though you see yourself filled with wretchedness…Tell him – precisely because of this! St. Josemaria.”
Monday Musings - Which Kind of Soul Am I? - Part 2
Info from this site:
https://harvestingthefruitsofcontemplation.blogspot.com/2017/10/monday-musings-which-kind-of-soul-am-i_16.html
[In The Golden Key to Heaven – An Explanation of the Spiritual Exercises of St. Ignatius, St. Anthony Mary Claret discusses three distinct types of souls. Last week we looked at the first type (you can review that post here). If you did not recognize yourself then, maybe what follows will be a more accurate description. This one might really smart - the Truth does that you know.]
The second class of men consists of those who have a true will to aspire to perfection, but it is not an all-inclusive, generous will…Let us return to the example of sick persons. Behold, my soul, another sick man very different from the first one. He desires to regain his health, and to achieve this he is ready to take medications and other remedies. But he is unwilling to take the iron or the caustic medications, or other similar disagreeable remedies. (He will take whatever medicine is prescribed, provided it does not taste bad.) Thus he, too, is unwilling to have all treatments that are necessary. What should be said of this sick man? It is true that he has a good will, but it lacks strength, whole-heartedness, and generosity.
A disposition resembling that of this sick man is that in which we find many spiritual people. They want to acquire perfection, and to obtain it they are ready to take some of the means, but not all. To bear up for many years with interior desolation and grave trials, to suffer humiliation and contempt without having given any occasion for it, and other things distasteful to corrupt nature, seems to these souls too great a burden for their shoulders. What should be said of these souls? One will say that they have some good will, but it is like that of the sick man unwilling to take all treatments that are necessary. What will follow for a will that holds back this way? Note this well, my soul and impress it well in your heart…Realize that:
A soul in this disposition will always lack consolation and peace – as it lacks holy indifference of will and complete, unreserved resignation to the Divine Will, the evil inclinations in it will never die. Pride and vainglory, caprice and attachment to one’s will and judgment, carelessness of speech, anger, melancholy, and harshness towards one’s neighbor will continue after many years of spiritual reading, mental prayer, frequenting of the Sacraments, and works of mercy. These faults will be as lively as when one began his pursuit of virtue. Rather, they will keep growing with the years and will develop like a sturdy tree which every year always gains more height and firmness. The burden of obedience to superiors will every day weigh more heavily on such a soul, and each experience of contempt will be harder to bear. One’s conversation will each time become less restrained, less controlled, and his treatment of his neighbor will become more discourteous and offensive.
What peace, what consolation, could ever be found in a heart so ill disposed? One unmortified attachment is to a soul like a snake on a man’s body, who has rest when the serpent is asleep and does not bite or poison him; but the instant it wakes you, it bites and torments the unhappy man. This soul will not otherwise enjoy peace and quiet, except when its passions are not provoked. But if they are awakened, either by an offense done to him or some slight that he receives, or by a command that is not pleasing to him – oh, the storm, the torment he must suffer! Yet we are so blind that we do not see the source of our misery; and when we could easily discover it in our own heart, we turn everywhere else to try to find it.
This soul will go through life without making any progress in perfection – It is God Himself who thus explains the matter, and one may not expect Him to retract…”one…that doth not renounce all…cannot be My disciple.’
Info from this site:
https://harvestingthefruitsofcontemplation.blogspot.com/2017/10/monday-musings-which-kind-of-soul-am-i_16.html
[In The Golden Key to Heaven – An Explanation of the Spiritual Exercises of St. Ignatius, St. Anthony Mary Claret discusses three distinct types of souls. Last week we looked at the first type (you can review that post here). If you did not recognize yourself then, maybe what follows will be a more accurate description. This one might really smart - the Truth does that you know.]
The second class of men consists of those who have a true will to aspire to perfection, but it is not an all-inclusive, generous will…Let us return to the example of sick persons. Behold, my soul, another sick man very different from the first one. He desires to regain his health, and to achieve this he is ready to take medications and other remedies. But he is unwilling to take the iron or the caustic medications, or other similar disagreeable remedies. (He will take whatever medicine is prescribed, provided it does not taste bad.) Thus he, too, is unwilling to have all treatments that are necessary. What should be said of this sick man? It is true that he has a good will, but it lacks strength, whole-heartedness, and generosity.
A disposition resembling that of this sick man is that in which we find many spiritual people. They want to acquire perfection, and to obtain it they are ready to take some of the means, but not all. To bear up for many years with interior desolation and grave trials, to suffer humiliation and contempt without having given any occasion for it, and other things distasteful to corrupt nature, seems to these souls too great a burden for their shoulders. What should be said of these souls? One will say that they have some good will, but it is like that of the sick man unwilling to take all treatments that are necessary. What will follow for a will that holds back this way? Note this well, my soul and impress it well in your heart…Realize that:
A soul in this disposition will always lack consolation and peace – as it lacks holy indifference of will and complete, unreserved resignation to the Divine Will, the evil inclinations in it will never die. Pride and vainglory, caprice and attachment to one’s will and judgment, carelessness of speech, anger, melancholy, and harshness towards one’s neighbor will continue after many years of spiritual reading, mental prayer, frequenting of the Sacraments, and works of mercy. These faults will be as lively as when one began his pursuit of virtue. Rather, they will keep growing with the years and will develop like a sturdy tree which every year always gains more height and firmness. The burden of obedience to superiors will every day weigh more heavily on such a soul, and each experience of contempt will be harder to bear. One’s conversation will each time become less restrained, less controlled, and his treatment of his neighbor will become more discourteous and offensive.
What peace, what consolation, could ever be found in a heart so ill disposed? One unmortified attachment is to a soul like a snake on a man’s body, who has rest when the serpent is asleep and does not bite or poison him; but the instant it wakes you, it bites and torments the unhappy man. This soul will not otherwise enjoy peace and quiet, except when its passions are not provoked. But if they are awakened, either by an offense done to him or some slight that he receives, or by a command that is not pleasing to him – oh, the storm, the torment he must suffer! Yet we are so blind that we do not see the source of our misery; and when we could easily discover it in our own heart, we turn everywhere else to try to find it.
This soul will go through life without making any progress in perfection – It is God Himself who thus explains the matter, and one may not expect Him to retract…”one…that doth not renounce all…cannot be My disciple.’
This means: One who does not renounce all creatures that capture the heart and does not completely abandon himself, without any reservations, to My Way of disposing matters, will never be able to attain to My Love nor become one with Me. And why? Listen to the reasons for this, my soul.
God is Infinite Authority. It is a matter for God’s choice to grant the particular graces that are necessary for reaching perfection. Now His established way is not to grant them to a soul that holds back and does not submit completely to His Majesty. Can God be criticized for this procedure?
God is Infinite Worthiness. To Him belongs the right that one’s whole heart be given Him with all its affections. It will never be possible for Him to surrender this right nor admit to union with Him a soul that fails to give itself to Him unreservedly.
Confession – This sick man is a vivid image of my soul, O Jesus. He wants to regain his health, but without labor, without taking unpleasant remedies. This is exactly the disposition of my soul. I would like to have perfect humility, but without bearing contempt; perfect obedience, but without painful commands; a perfect charity and meekness, but without undergoing ill treatment. That is, I want to be holy, but without suffering…Is not this to directly oppose the Will of the Heavenly Father, the doctrine and example of Jesus Christ, the designs and interior inspiration of the Holy Spirit? Oh, what a fool I am! There has not been anyone before me nor will there be anyone afterwards, who became holy without suffering and without following the footsteps of Jesus Christ. It is absolutely necessary to suffer, to die to self, to give up all useless, selfish pursuits, if one wants to acquire perfection. Yes, this is Thy doctrine, O my Jesus. This is the road that leads to holiness. And so, I wish to suffer with Thee, and to suffer even until all disorders disappear from my heart and all my perverse impulses have been mortified.
God is Infinite Authority. It is a matter for God’s choice to grant the particular graces that are necessary for reaching perfection. Now His established way is not to grant them to a soul that holds back and does not submit completely to His Majesty. Can God be criticized for this procedure?
God is Infinite Worthiness. To Him belongs the right that one’s whole heart be given Him with all its affections. It will never be possible for Him to surrender this right nor admit to union with Him a soul that fails to give itself to Him unreservedly.
Confession – This sick man is a vivid image of my soul, O Jesus. He wants to regain his health, but without labor, without taking unpleasant remedies. This is exactly the disposition of my soul. I would like to have perfect humility, but without bearing contempt; perfect obedience, but without painful commands; a perfect charity and meekness, but without undergoing ill treatment. That is, I want to be holy, but without suffering…Is not this to directly oppose the Will of the Heavenly Father, the doctrine and example of Jesus Christ, the designs and interior inspiration of the Holy Spirit? Oh, what a fool I am! There has not been anyone before me nor will there be anyone afterwards, who became holy without suffering and without following the footsteps of Jesus Christ. It is absolutely necessary to suffer, to die to self, to give up all useless, selfish pursuits, if one wants to acquire perfection. Yes, this is Thy doctrine, O my Jesus. This is the road that leads to holiness. And so, I wish to suffer with Thee, and to suffer even until all disorders disappear from my heart and all my perverse impulses have been mortified.
Audio presentation: "Refurbishing the Soul", Episode 11, by Babsie Bkeasdell
Link to audio presentation:
http://listen.ewtn.com/~IJ/~IJ000003.mp3